I use a dulux machine daily at work and have found that some F&B colours we can scan and match very well, others are nowhere near. (talking colour not 'finish' obviously! The nearest you will get is with a flat matt)Look at for the new Valspar machines just coming into stores, apparently they match all F&B colours 100% but i've yet to have a play on one so may be wrong!

Before i started renovating my victorian house an interior designer friend told me to use nothing but F&B ... DP and I had our doubts but decided to try it in the lounge first (used cord) and absolutely saw what all the raving was about, we have now finished the whole house in F&B and wouldn't use anything else.

Yes its a bit more expensive, but we waited and saved a bit more to allow for the extra to get it right. Homebase sell F&B and its part of their 10% off promotion days - you can order colours and different sizes to stock and still get the 10% discount.

This is my first post on mumsnet. I have recently managed to mix my own emulsion paint to match F&B by using 10 litre white, then getting a really dark/muddy 1 litre emulsion ( let you know the code if you wish) can from dulux mixing station, spooning in to get a good colour. Add cheap match pots to help to get the colour you desire and then lastly adding a match pot of the F&b paint you like to give that matt look. I have so far made up 30 litres of really cheap coloured paint from dulux white emulsion. You just have to make sure you make enough to cover the room and a little spare for touching marks later.

Bloody bloody m' net and your "colour matching" theories. I tried it, got Dulux to attempt to match F&B for my front door and the result is hideous. So now I am going to have to spend twice as much buying a second pot of paint AND I will have to paint the damn door myself now as I'm too embarrassed to tell the decorator hate my lurid, tacky cheap 'n' nasty front door

My kitchen cabinets are an F&B paint colour copy - I painted my kitchen stools myself using a pot of actual F&B and I cannot tell the difference - in fact I have touched up the cabinets with the tin where paint has chipped (THERE's a lesson against painted kitchen cabinets)

As stated, depends on the colour I think. I ordered my kitchen island in Print Room Yellow and I knew the second I saw it that it wasn't F&B - joiner confirmed it was Crown colour matched. The colour isn't 'deep' enough like the tester was. But, agree with others that if you can find a similar enough colour in a less expensive paint then that is great. There is no thrill in having really expensive paint unless you are colour obsessive like me

If you are having paint mixed to match a F & B colour, use a trade paint premises, as opposed to a DIY place (you know the ones), the equivalent brand of paint they use at a trade store will be better quality than the same one that goes on the mass production pallet for the DIY store, I have this information from a reliable source, and I have had at least four colours matched with F & B colours with a trade paint shop and they came out identical to the F & B sample pots. I tend to have mine mixed for furniture painting, as opposed to Emulsion for Walls (and that may be different, since it covers a larger flat area), but as I say, my colours came out great, and although it is a little more expensive than a DIY store, it's far less expensive than F & B!!

This is an argument as old as time. I've been a decorator for longer than I care to mention. We have worked all over Europe multimillion pound contracts and really high end work both modern and heritage. The honest truth is that F+B paint just isn't trade standard whats more it ruins most brushes and rollers. There are so many great brands that offer the same colours and finishes with a lot more durability and longevity. F+B has just become more a status thing among people with more cash than sense much like laura ashley years ago. Having said that its the customer who pays for it and the customer is king. If they chose to ignore the advise of professionals so be it.

Paintersteve I'm hoping you might still be following this thread... Can you let us in on what the great brands that offer the same colours and finish but with the better longevity (and presumably) price are? Would love to have advice from someone with your experience.

Best analogy I have is that if you have some glitter glued to a page that's like the F&B paint, the Dulux copy is the equivalent to a good photocopy of that page. It will still look similar in essence but all the small reflections and twinkles that the real glitter gives off are lost.

I had Elephant's Breath colour-matched for a hallway in my old flat. It had none of the pinkish-purple undertones and just looked a boring old grey!

Our living room, hall way and stair walls are all painted a colour match to F&B Dayroom yellow. It probably doesn't have that magical depth of colour but we love it. Front door is painted using F&B. It's fab.

Depends on your budget, How fussy you are and if the house "needs" it.

You need to get it matched on the Valspar machine at B&Q. It works differently to the Dulux machine because it creates an exact match rather than matching to the nearest colour in a range.I matched several F&B colours for my house and they are all perfect.